Archaeology of Selected Culture Areas
Sociology-Anthropology 3110
Maya Archaeology
Fall 2003
Sullivan-Harrell Room 347
T-Th 10-11:15
Professor: George Bey Ford: Ottar Mobley
email: beygj@millsaps.edu email: Mobleco
Office: SH-344 Office: SH-348
Phone: Ext. 1385 Phone: Ext. 1912
Office Hours: Office Hours: by appt.
Wednesday 2:00-3:00-
Thursday 1:00-2 :00
Required
Texts:
Coe, Michael D. and Justin Kerr
1998 The Art of the Maya Scribe. Harry N. Abrams, New York.
Martin, Simon and Nikolai Grube
2000 Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya. Thames and Hudson, London.
Schele, Linda and Peter Mathews
1998 The Code of Kings: The Language of Seven Sacred Maya Temples and Tombs. Scribner, New York.
In addition there will be selected articles that will be distributed or available on line as required reading during the course of the semester.
Course
Summary and Goals:
This course examines the rise and fall of Maya civilization. Our goal is to try and understand the nature of this varied culture as well as the processes that led to its development and decline. We will examine the art, architecture, epigraphy, social organization, religion, and political/economic structure of Maya culture. The time period covered extends from approximately 2300 B.C.- A.D. 1519. We will begin with the development of settled village life and its evolution into complex society during the Preclassic period. Much of the class will be devoted to an examination of Maya civilization during the following period, which is called the Classic. This time period extends from around A.D. 250 until A.D. 900-1000. It is during this time period when Maya culture reached its peak as regards the size and number of kingdoms, the extent of literacy and the complexity of art and science. Between A.D. 900-1000 the Maya area undergoes a dramatic decline and reorganization which is so profound it is commonly called “the collapse.” This collapse first occurs in the southern Maya area and later in the northern Maya area. We will examine the Classic decline both in the south and in the north and the nature of the Maya world during the so-called Postclassic period which ends with the arrival of the Spanish in A.D. 1519.
This course is designed to explore the Maya culture area, through a focus on archaeology, art, and epigraphy. General goals of the course include- exploring the archaeology of complex societies, the methods used to reconstruct and understand them, and the theories that are built to explain them. This course then is designed to let us examine and evaluate the application of facts, methods, and theories in the interpretation of an archaeological culture.
We will approach this subject through lecture and discussion. It is vital to the success of the class that you come prepared.
Expectations:
This class is based on our doing the reading and the writing. It is expected that you will have carefully read the material assigned on any particular class day. Participation and preparation are determined by the following criteria: attendance, balanced-thoughtful comments which move the conversation forward and add to our understanding of the material, and a set of short one question quizzes that will be give randomly in order to keep you on your toes..
Class Participation: Since we will approach this subject through discussion and critical reading, it is vital to the success of the class that you come prepared. You may love an article, or hate it; you may embrace it or reject it, but be prepared to discuss it. If I ask you to start us off, or to address a particular question you should be prepared to do so. This does not mean that you will understand everything you read all the time or that you must always have the right answer (if there is one), but it does mean you should have read the material. If you are found to be regularly unprepared for class, you will receive an F for class participation. Although there is no prerequisite for this course, it is designed for students with at least an introductory level understanding of anthropological ideas. Being prepared also means bringing the readings to class that we are covering on a particular day..
Class absences: We don’t take attendance, but if you are not here we will know it. If you are not here you can’t participate and your participation grade will suffer. Excessive absence (more than three absences qualifies as excessive) greatly impact your class participation grade (an F is likely) thus making it impossible to get an A in this course. Also, if you are absent or are planning to be absent email us ASAP. If you don’t have the time to inform us of your absence, we don’t think we should have to make any effort to help you on missed work. That is fair.
Late assignments: All essays are due on the date they are assigned to be completed. Late essays will not be accepted. You must give us a hard copy of your essay, not an electronic one and you must turn you essay in during class. There will be no exceptions unless you have documented extenuating circumstances.
Honor Code: All students at Millsaps have pledged to abide by the Millsaps Honor Code. We expect you to meet the high standards of academic honesty embodied in the Honor Code. Academic honesty is vital for our intellectual endeavors. Plagiarism and other forms of cheating are acts of dishonesty. If we find that a student has been academically dishonest, college policies require that you are reported to the academic dean for consideration by the Honor Council. Please take your responsibilities under the Honor Code very seriously. You should always submit your own original work for this class and cite all sources upon which you have drawn in developing papers and other projects. It is not possible to grade your work if you fail to provide proper citations. If you have questions about these issues, please ask.
Learning Disabilities: If you are challenged with a learning disability, it is your responsibility to register with Student Services and to inform me of any allowances granted by the college. I will be happy to work with you to make sure that we arrange for the appropriate allowances.
Grading:
1. Mid-Term examination: In class test 20%
2. Final Examination: In class test (non-cumulative) 30%
3. Short writing assignment in week 2 10%
4. Three critical take home essays 30%
5. Class Participation, Preparation (Quizzes) 10%
Class
Schedule
ACT I:THE RISE OF MAYA CIVILIZATION
Week 1: Setting the Stage
T-Background, geography and climate (review the syllabus)
Th-Introduction to the Maya Universe- Coe Chap. 1, Simon and Grube, Chap. 1,
S&M Chap.1
Week 2: The Origins of Settled Village life and the Olmec
T-Origins of settled Village Life- Pohl et al.: Early Agriculture in the Maya Lowlands;
Coe and Flannery: Microenvironments and Mesoamerican Prehistory
Coe:
Gift of the River
Pope et. al: Origin and Environemental Setting of Ancient Agriculature in the Lowlands of Mesoamerica
Th-Olmec Overview- Grove: Olmec Archaeology: A Half Century of Research and its Accomplishments
Grove: Olmec Altars and Myths
Porter: Olmec colossal heads as recarved thrones
Paper 1 Assigned
Week 3: The Olmec Early Maya Culture
T- The Olmec and Earliest Maya- Clark: The Arts of Government in Early Mesoamerica
Taube: Lightning Celts and Corn Fetishes
Th- The Beginnings of Social Complexity in the Highlands/Pacific Coast- Sharer: The Preclassic Maya
.
Week 4: Early Maya Culture
T- The Growth of Social Complexity in the Highlands/Pacific Coast- Fash: From Preclassic to Classic in the Copan Valley
Th- Marcus: Recent Advances in Maya Archaeology
Week 5: Early Maya Culture
T- The Growth of Social Complexity in the Lowlands- Hansen: Continuity and Disjunction: The Preclassic Antecedents of Classic Maya Architecture
Schele & Freidel: Cerros: The Coming of Kings
Paper 2 assigned
Th- The Growth of Social Complexity in the Lowlands- Harrison: Chapters 3&4 from The Lords of Tikal
ACTII: WHAT IT MEANS TO BE CLASSIC
Week 6: Characteristics of Classic Maya Culture
T-
Art and Iconography
Reents-Budet; excerpt from Painting the Maya Universe
Schele and Miller: excerpt from The Blood of Kings
Th- Writing and Calendrics- Coe Chap. 2
Houston: excerpt from Reading the Past: Maya Glyphs
Harris and Stearns: excerpt from Understanding Maya Inscriptions
Week
7: Characteristics of Classic Maya Culture
T- Calendrics and Religion
Taube: excerpt from Aztec and Maya Myths
Th- Economic and Social Organization
McAnanay: The economics of Social Power...
Sharer: Ancient Maya Social Organization
Week
8: Characteristics of Classic Maya Culture
T-Economics
and Social Organization
Corbett and McCarrerty: Spindle Whorls: Household Specializations at Ceren
PAPER
THREE ASSIGNED
Th-
MID-TERM EXAM
Week 9: The World of the Scribe
Th- The Scribe- Coe Chap. 3 & 4
ACT III: CLASSIC MAYA CITIES, KINGS AND QUEENS
SCENE
I: THE BIG TAMALE: TIKAL AND ITS NEIGHBORS
Week 10: Founding and Foreigners
T-
The Scribe and Tikal
Coe Chap. 5
S&G Tikal
Th-S&G
Tikal
S&M
Chap. 2
Week
11: Things heat up
Th-Dos Pilas, Naranjo, Calakmul and
Caracol
additional
reading to be assigned
SCENE
II: OTHER JADE SPHERES
Week
12: Copan and Quiriqua
T&
Th-S&M Chap. 4
S&G
Copan and Quiriqua
additional
reading to be assigned
PAPER
FOUR ASSIGNED
Week
13: Palenque
T
& Th- S&M Chap. 3
M&G
Palenque
additional
reading to be assigned
ACT
IV: THE FINAL CURTAIN
Week
14: The Collapse
T-Webster
Fall of the Ancient Maya - Chap. 7
No
class Thursday
Week
15: The Collapse and The Northern Fluorescence
T-Webster
Fall of the Ancient Maya- Chap. 8&9
T
& Th S&M Chap. 6&7